Biography

Photo by Cary Wolinsky

Jennifer Ackerman has been writing about science, nature, and health for more than three decades.  Her work aims to explain and interpret science for a lay audience and to explore the riddles of the natural world, blending scientific knowledge with strong storytelling. She has won numerous awards and fellowships, including a 2024 Guggenheim Fellowship, a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and fellowships from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College (now the Radcliffe Institute), Brown College at the University of Virginia, and the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University.

Jennifer's most recent book,What an Owl Knows: The new science of the world’s most enigmatic birds, was an instant New York Times bestseller and has been described in reviews as “eloquent and engaging”, “revelatory”, a “fascinating read”, “a masterful survey”, and an “enchanting guide.” Jennifer also recorded the audiobook for What an Owl Knows. Her previous book, The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think (Penguin Press, 2020; paperback, 2021), was a finalist for for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and was nominated for numerous other awards. It’s published in more than a dozen languages. Her New York Times bestseller, The Genius of Birds (Penguin Press, 2016; paperback 2017), has been translated into close to 30 languages. The book was named one of the 10 best nonfiction books of 2016 by The Wall Street Journal, a Best Science Book of 2016 by National Public Radio's "Science Friday," a Best Book of the Year by The Spectator and the National Post, and a Nature Book of the Year by the London Sunday Times. It was a finalist for the 2017 National Academies Communication Book Award and for the 2017 Smart Book Award in Poland.  

Other books include Birds by the Shore: Observing the Natural Life of the Atlantic Coast (a 2019 reissue by Penguin Press of her first book, Notes from the Shore); Ah-Choo! The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold (Twelve, 2010), which was named a finalist for the Books for a Better Life Award'; and Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body (Houghton Mifflin, 2007; Mariner Paperbacks, 2008), which explores the biological events we experience over the course of a day.  The latter was selected as a New York Times “Editor’s Choice” and was chosen as a main selection for the Scientific American Book Club. It has been published in 13 languages.  Ackerman’s book Chance in the House of Fate: A Natural History of Heredity (Houghton Mifflin 2001; Mariner Paperbacks 2002) was named a New York Times “New and Noteworthy” paperback and was selected as a Library Journal Best Book of the Year in 2002. She is the editor of The Curious Naturalist and the co-author with Dr. Miriam Nelson of The Social Network Diet and The Strong Women’s Guide to Total Health. 

Jennifer’s essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, National Geographic, Natural History, Parade, and many other publications.  She has written on subjects ranging from the work of Chuck Close to the microbiome of the human body, the evolutionary origin of birds, the sexual habits of dragonflies, the neural nature of dyslexia, the biology of cranes, parasites as agents of evolutionary change, ocean circulation, the wildlife of Japan, and the work of Nobel laureate and developmental biologist Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard. Her writing has been collected in several anthologies, among them, Flights of Imagination: Extraordinary Writings About Birds, ed. Richard Canning (Greystone, 2010), The Penguin Book of the Ocean, ed. James Bradley (Penguin Australia, 2010), Best American Science Writing, ed. Alan Lightman (Perennial, 2005), Shorewords (University of Virginia Press, 2003), Stories from Where We Live—the North Atlantic Coast, ed. Sara St. Antoine (Milkweed, 2001), The Beach Book, ed. Aleda Shirley (Sarabande Books, 2000), The Seacoast Reader, ed. John A. Murray (Lyons Press, 1999), From the Field, ed Charles McCarry (National Geographic, 1997), The Nature Reader, ed. Daniel Halpern and Dan Frank (Ecco Press, 1996), and Best Nature Writing (Sierra Club books, 1996).

From 1998-2002, Jennifer served on the Editorial Board of the University of Virginia Press. From 1996-2001, she was a judge for the Phillip D. Reed Memorial Prize for Environmental Writing, sponsored by the Southern Environmental Law Center. She has also worked as an editorial consultant for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute on a series of magazines designed to introduce the lay reader to new research in genetics, and for the Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, The Nature Conservancy, and the W. Alton Jones Foundation.

Jennifer has made appearances on many radio and TV shows, including NPR programs, the CBS Sunday Morning program, and the CBS Morning Show, and has lectured and presented at venues around the world, including the Hay Festivals in Colombia, the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Melbourne Writers Festival, the American Philosophical Society, the Denver Museum of Science and Nature, the Delta Birding Festival in Spain, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Virginia and its Medical Center, and for numerous other institutions and organizations. 

For seven years, Jennifer was a staff writer and researcher for the Book Division of the National Geographic Society, where she contributed to The Incredible Machine, a book about the human body (1986, 1992) and served as Editor-in-Chief of The Curious Naturalist (1991), a collection of essays about approaching and understanding North American ecosystems.

Jennifer was educated at Yale University, where she studied literature, graduating cum laude in 1980, with a B.A. in English. 

JENNIFER’s CV

Education and fellowships

1980: Yale College, New Haven, CT, BA in English cum laude

1995:  Established Artist Fellowship, Delaware Arts Council

1997-1998:  Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College (fellowship)

2001:  Brown College of the University of Virginia (fellowship)

2001: Finalist for American Academy of Arts Rome Fellowship

2004:  National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Nonfiction

2007-2010:  Senior Fellow, Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service

2024: Guggenheim Fellowship

Professional Experience

1989-Present:  Writer  In addition to my books, my writing has appeared in National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, Scientific American, Parade, Natural History, Real Simple, More, and many other publications.  I have written essays and articles on subjects ranging from the artwork of Chuck Close to the neural nature of dyslexia, ocean circulation, the wildlife of Japan, parasites as agents of evolutionary change, the biology of cranes, the origin of birds, microbial threats to food safety, and the work of Nobel laureate and developmental biologist Christian Nusslein-Volhard.

1998-2002:  Member, Editorial Board, University of Virginia Press

1996-2001:  Judge, Philip D. Reed Memorial Prize for Environmental Writing, sponsored by the Southern Environmental Law Center

1982-1989:  Staff writer and researcher, Book Division, National Geographic Society

Publications:  Books

What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds (Penguin Press, 2023)

The Bird Way: A New Look at How Bird Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think (Penguin Press, May 2020; paperback, 2021)

The Genius of Birds (Penguin Press, 2016; paperback, 2017)

Birds by the Shore (Penguin Press, 2019; originally published in 1995 as Notes from the Shore by Viking Penguin)

Ah-Choo!  The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold (Twelve Press, 2010)

The Strong Women’s Guide to Total Health and (Rodale, 2010) and The Social Network Diet, both coauthored with Dr. Miriam Nelson

Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream:  A Day in the Life of Your Body (Houghton Mifflin, 2007; paperback, 2008).

Chance in the House of Fate:  A Natural History of Heredity (Houghton Mifflin, 2001; Mariner paperback, 2002)

Publications: Anthologies (selected)

  • “Five Fathoms,” The Penguin Book of the Ocean (Penguin Australia, 2010)

  • “Osprey”, Flights of Imagination (Greystone Books, 2010)

  • “Cranes,” Best American Science Writing, ed. Alan Lightman (Perennial, 2005)

  • “The Great Marsh,” Stories from Where We Live—the North Atlantic Coast, ed. Sara St. Antoine (Milkweed, 2001)

  • “Osprey,” The Beach Book, ed. Aleda Shirley (Sarabande Books, 2000)

  • “Spindrift,” Seacoast Reader, ed. John A. Murray (Lyons Press, 1999)

  • “Islands at the Edge,” From the Field, ed. Charles McCarry (National Geographic Society, 1997)

  • “Five Fathoms,” The Nature Reader, ed. Daniel Halpern and Dan Frank (Ecco Press, 1996)

Publications: Periodical (selected)

  • "What  Owls' Silent Flight Tells us About the World," New York Times, June 7, 2023.

  • “What Birds Do for Us and What We Can Do for Them,” The New York Times, May 29, 2020

  • “Cooperation is for the Birds,” The Wall Street Journal, April 24, 2020

  • “The Ultimate Social Network: The microbes that live within,” Cover story, Scientific American (June 2012)

  • “The Cold Wars,” Parade, January 30, 2011

  • “How Not to Fight a Cold,” The New York Times, October 4, 2010

  • “Plastic Surf”, Scientific American, August 2010

  • “Breathing Trees,” Wilderness Magazine, October 2008

  • “Make it an Early Bird,” The New York Times Opinion Editorial Page, November 21, 2007 “Queens of Green,” More, April 2007

  • “Paris: Space for the Soul”, National Geographic, October 2006

  • “The Downside of Upright,” National Geographic, July 2006

  • “Dragonflies: Strange Love,” National Geographic, April 2006

  • “The Great Marsh,” Delaware Beach Life, 2005. Recipient of the International Regional Magazine Associations Silver Medal award for nature writing

  • “Cranes: No Mere Bird,” National Geographic, April 2004

  • “Untangling the Brain,” Yale Alumni Magazine, January/February 2004

  • “When the Frost Lies White: Winter Wildlife in Japan,” National Geographic, February, 2003

  • “How Safe is Our Food?” National Geographic, May 2002

  • “Going in Circles” Real Simple, June/July 2001

  • “Celle Fantastyk,” Natural History, May 2001

  • “Mystery at the Genome’s Core,” Sunday Star Ledger, Feb. 18, 2001

  • “New Eyes on the Ocean,” National Geographic, October 2000

  • “Dinosaurs Take Wing,” National Geographic, July 1998

  • “Journey to the Center of the Egg,” The New York Times Magazine, Oct. 12, 1997

  • “Parasites,” National Geographic, October 1997

  • “Islands at the Edge,” National Geographic, August 1997

  • “Aggressive Image, Painterly Gestures: Looking at Some Close-ups”, Yale Alumni Magazine, May 1982

Speeches (selected)

  • 2016 to present: “What an Owl Knows,” “The Bird Way,” “The Genius of Birds,” “Knowing Where You’re Going: Bird Migration,” numerous locations

  • October 2011, “With a Little Help from Your Friends: Change Yourself, Change Your World,” Women United in Philanthropy, Charlottesville, VA

  • August 2003 “The Living Building: Facts of Life,” McDonough and Partners Architectural Firm, Charlottesville, VA

  • April 2003, “Writing for the National Geographic,” Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC), Charlottesville, VA

  • March 2003, “The Biological Ties that Bind,” Dickinson Theater, PVCC

  • November 2001, “Chance in the House of Fate: A long view of genes and heredity,” Society of Fellows, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

  • September 2001, “Understanding Heredity,” University of Virginia Medical Center Hour, Charlottesville, VA

  • February 2001 “Japan’s Winter Ecology,” Brown College, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

  • April 1999, “Reading the Land,” University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

  • April 1998, “Nature Writing,” Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

  • October 1997, “The Longest Thread,” Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College, Cambridge, MA

Awards and Honors (selected)

  • 2024. The Bird Way chosen as one of the Wall Street Journal’s best books on the animal kingdom.

  • 2024. Guggenheim Fellowship

  • 2021. The Bird Way was a finalist for the E.O. Wilson/PEN Literary Science Writing Award

  • 2017. The Genius of Birds was a finalist for the National Academies Communication Book Award and for the Smart Book Award in Poland and was long-listed for the E.O. Wilson/PEN Literary Science Writing Award.  

  • 2010. Ah-Choo! The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold named finalist for Books for a Better Life Award

  • 2005. “The Great Marsh” article in Delaware Beach Life received the International Regional Magazine Associations Silver Medal award for nature writing.

  • 2004. National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship in Nonfiction

  • 2002. Chance in the House of Fate selected as finalist for the 5th Annual Library of Virginia Literary Award in Nonfiction

  • 2002. Chance in the House of Fate named a New York Times “New and Noteworthy” paperback

  • 2001. Named finalist for the American Academy of Arts Rome Fellowship of 2001-2

  • 2001. Chance in the House of Fate selected as a Library Journal Best Book of the Year

  • 1998. Received grant from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

  • 1997. Received Fellowship in Nonfiction from Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College

  • 1994. Received Established Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Arts Council